Vegetative State of the Black Union?

Tavis Smiley’s 10th annual “State of the Black Union” in Los Angeles took place today and there were a number of speakers who had a lot to say about Barack Obama and the state of Black people as a whole.
#sobu2009 was the number seven most searched trend on Twitter today, meaning folks were tuned in and interested in the state of black people in America.
I tweeted on the stream #sotbu09 , so I could keep track of MY tweets. You can check that at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23sotbu09

Among my favorite quotes:
Danny Bakewell, Sr.
“We shouldn’t raise Obama to a sanctified position, we elected a leader, not a savior”
“It’s not that he’s doing a lot that’s different, he’s just taking it up a notch. For example, normally, a black leader before he speaks will emphasize the importance of the Black Woman. Barack didn’t do this, he SHOWED you his affection for his wife, Michelle, [solidifying the Black woman as the greatest global treasure].”
Rev.Al Sharpton
“We don’t have Dem or Rep in our DNA, we support those parties that support us”
Deregulation of business and media… Reps rally support around denouncing a cartoon, but supports the ‘media mafia’ that makes an [ignorant] cartoon expendible
Dr. Cornel West
“For us the condition of truth is to let the suffering voices emerge”
Age of Obama is magnificent, but we have to talk about the Age of Reagan, it was the Backdrop… I know [Reps} have changed since then, but we have to talk about it
Michael Steele
My first outreach was to welcome [Obama].. because we had one thing in common: we are Black men in influential positions
Dr. Julianne Malveaux
How did we get here? Its called greed, Tavis. You had peole trying 2nd mortgages, 3rd mortgages. But we believed the hype!
“The Unemployment rate was 7.6% in Jan [2009]. For Americans that have work, but part-time[, and are “stuck”]7.6, turns to 15.9%, for African Americans, that turns to 20%
“The first thing we looked at wasn’t a stimulus, but a bailout!”
“Why did we ever have affirmative action?- because there was exclusion”
“If it’s not about Affirmative Action Adequately fund higher education so students don’t come out with thousands of dollars of debt, and no opportunities”
“If you can finance a car for 0% interest, why no a college education”
“Couldn’t Bank of America shave off $1 bil. To save the food stamp program [which is almost bankrupt]”
Randal Robinson
“When you watch American news You get controlled news, when you watch outside news, you learn what we aren’t doing”

“Bush, with the help of Rice and Powell went into Haiti to send forces to kidnap the president of Haiti and his wife”
“I played basketball in college; I ran up and down a court and thought it was important”
“We cant go around the world overthrowing democracies we don’t like, just because they don’t like us”
“Lincoln didn’t start the movement [to free slaves], Toussaint L’Overture did. And Haiti has been paying for it since the 1800’s”Write your congressperson and two Senators about cocaine sentencing reform

I spoke with a lot of folks, but here’s my interview with GOP chairman, brother Michael Steele